In various containment plows, such as snow pushers sold by Pro-Tech Manufacturing (e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,724,755, 6,112,438), the sides of the plow are supported on replaceable wear shoes or similar sacrificial skid members. In certain plowing conditions it is difficult to assess when the plow is in a position and the wear shoes are parallel or level with the ground surface. Moreover, operators often tend to tilt the containment plow so as to drive the force of the plow disproportionately on the front or rear portions of the wear shoes and thereby increase the rate of wear of such shoes. As a result, not only do the wear shoes suffer shorter life, but there is also risk of damaging the containment plow, and of doing a poor job of removing snow or debris. For example, if the operator has the plow tilted forward, the rear of the plow may be slightly lifted off the surface being plowed, resulting in a loss of contact between the plow's scraping edge and the surface being cleaned.
One system for indicating the orientation of a containment plow involves placing a bar extending vertically upward from the plow (usually at the front or back if the side plate, and then attaching another freely pivoting bar or tilt indicator at the top of the vertical bar. An example of such a device is depicted, for example, in US 2008/0052929 A1. When the plow is not level, the freely pivoting bar may be seen to swing away from the vertical bar to indicate the tilted orientation. However, several problems exist with such mechanical tilt indicators. First, the extending bar, pivot point and tilt indicator are subject to damage (e.g., bending, breakage), as well as, accumulation of snow and ice, which prevent them from being responsive or accurately indicating a tilted orientation. Second, even if properly functioning, the indicators are typically attached or mounted at or near a side of the plow and are not only difficult to see, but are also prone to swinging as a pendulum in response to a change in momentum of the plow and loader as much as they are to responding to an actual change in the tilt or orientation of the containment plow.
Accordingly, the disclosed embodiments are intended for use on any type of containment plow, including those designed for snow and debris removal, and also including different designs of such plows. For example, in addition to the snow pushers noted above that are manufactured and sold by Pro-Tech and others, the disclosed embodiments may also be suitable for use on turf-clearing equipment, both artificial and natural turf—for example, see TURF PLOW Design Patent, U.S. D680,558; Apr. 23, 2013, by Matthew Clement. Thus, the disclosed tilt sensor and signaling device finds practical application wherever it is important to keep the ground or turf contacting surfaces of the plow fully engaged with the surface so as to avoid excessive force at any one point—forces that could result in excessive wear, damage, as well as tearing or other damage to a surface being cleaned of snow or debris. Of course, it will be further appreciated that the disclosed tilt sensing and indicating system may have practical application for plows and other types of devices, other than containment plows, particularly devices that perform optimally when maintained at a particular angle with respect to a surface over which they are being used.
Disclosed in embodiments herein is a tilt sensing and indicating device for attachment to a containment plow, including: a sensor, attached to the containment plow, for detecting the angular orientation of the containment plow about a longitudinal axis of the containment plow in a home (level) position as well as when the device is in an orientation that deviates more than a pre-defined angle (N degrees) from the home position; and at least one light, responsive to said sensor, wherein a state of the at least one light changes when the sensor signals that the device is in an orientation that deviates more than a pre-defined angle (e.g., N degrees) from the home position.
Also disclosed herein is a system for monitoring the tilt of a containment plow apparatus comprising: a containment plow, including an upstanding central blade, having a longitudinal edge along a bottom side of said blade, and at least one side plate attached to and extending generally forward from the central blade near an end thereof; a plow tilt sensing device operatively attached to a surface of the containment plow for monitoring a relative tilt angle of the plow about a longitudinal axis thereof, said tilt sensing device producing a visual signal representing the relative tilt angle of the containment plow; a visual indicator on the tilt sensing device for providing an output in response to the relative tilt angle; and a processor for controlling the operation of the tilt sensing device; said processor operating in accordance with a program stored in memory associated with said processor, to periodically determine the relative tilt angle and to update the output signal and visual indicator in response thereto, where a representation of the output signal is provided by the visual indicator.
The various embodiments described herein are not intended to limit the disclosure to those embodiments described. On the contrary, the intent is to cover all alternatives, modifications, and equivalents as may be included within the spirit and scope of the various embodiments and equivalents set forth. For a general understanding, reference is made to the drawings. In the drawings, like references have been used throughout to designate identical or similar elements. It is also noted that the drawings may not have been drawn to scale and that certain regions may have been purposely drawn disproportionately so that the features and aspects could be properly depicted.